SOCIAL SYSTEM

Social system can be defined as:

“A set of inter related units, different in functions but its joint in the problems solving to accomplish a goal.”

There are two types of social systems.”


1. Traditional Social System.

2. Modern Social System. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL CHANGE

âThere is a lack of favorable attention towards the change.

âThe people of this system are less developed and have a simpler technology.

âThey have little relations with the outsiders. The nature of their relations is emotional and traditional.

âThe dwellers of this social system are usually less educated.

âThere is no concentration on the role and the development of the outsiders.

âLack of liberty.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN SOCIAL SYSTEM

uThey have a positive attitude towards the change.

uThey usually have well developed technology.

uHigh level of liberty.

uGood relations with the outsiders. They develop reational and business oriented relation.

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ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

Diffusion of innovation is dynamic topic and is related with the study that how the innovations are made known and are spread throughout the society. It can be defined as

  “THE PROCESS BY WHICH AN INNOVATION IS COMMUNICATED THROUGH CERTAIN CHANNEL OVERTIME AMOING THE MEMBERS OF SOCIAL SYSTEM”

Types of Diffusion of Innovation.

  Centralized

The process of diffusing the innovation under the supervision of the government sector.

  Decentralized

This is not under the supervision of the government secor but is under some unit of society, any organization or by any private sector.

Element of Diffusion of Innovation.

There are four elements of this process


1.INNOVATION
2.CHANNEL
3.TIME
4.SOCIAL SYSTEM

  Innovation



It can e defined as “Any idea, practice or object which is perceived as new by an individual or any other unit of adoption. For example if government decides to change its stance on Kashmir and supports for the division of Kashmir it will be a new idea. Similarly education for women in the rural areas and the population control are the examples of new practices. Likewise new tools of ploughing and computers can be taken as example of new object. An innovation may differ from individual to individual and community to community because any idea, practice or object may be new for one and not for the others

Characteristics of Innovation
1)Relative Advantages
2)Compatibility
3)Complexity
4)Trialability
5)Observability

Relative AdvantageThe degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the one it supersedes. Four things i.e. economics factor, social prestige, convenience and satisfaction usually judge the advantage of any innovation . For example if user of a typewriter replaces it with computer , he will do so by comparing the latter’s advantage with the former. Similarly a farmer will use new tools of ploughing after judging relative advantage of these innovation.



Compatibility.

The degree to which an innovation is perceived as being compatible with the existing values and needs of the receiver. Compatibility is basically how much an innovation matches the values and suits the needs of the receiver. We can say that compatibility is directly proportional to the rate of adoption for example it is easier for citizens of Islamabad or Lahore to celebrate Valentines day but the people living in villages would not like to adopt this new practice and the reason is that it is not compatible with their values

Complexity.

The degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult in understanding and use. More is the complexity of any new idea, practice or object, more it would be difficult for the receivers to adopt that innovation for example if new tools of ploughing are difficult in their use, the farmers will be reluctant to adopt these equipment's. Another example is that of the mobile phones of Nokia. As compare to the others sets in the market, these were purchased in larger number because they are more users family

Trialability
Trialability is the degree to which an innovation is experienced on limited basis. If the people are given a chance to try the innovation to check weather it is useful for them or not, it will encourage them to adopt that change for example if there comes a new insecticide and farmers are given a sample of that product, it will be easier to convince to farmers to adopt that insect poison.
Observability.It is the degree to which the results of an innovation are observable to others. The more an innovation is seen or noticed by the people , more they are likely to develop an interest in that particular innovation.

CHANNEL

While selecting a communication channel, a lot of care must be excercised because communication channel is the means by which messages about the innovation are delivered to the individuals or any other unit of adoption.

They may be the mass media channels for example Radio, Television or Newspapers. Mass media are effective as they reach a lot of people frequently and have an ability to influence the attitude of the people on regular basis.

Similarly there are interpersonal channels. They are also very effective as they give additional points of information or clarification and can also remove the different kinds of barriers in the process of diffusion.

Mass media channels are effective at the awareness or knowledge stage of the decision process however the interpersonal and localite channels are effective at the persuasion stage similarly the mass media are more important for the early adopters and early majority while interpersonal channels are important for the late majority.

Research hs proved that the communication channels play an important role in the diffusion of innovation process.

TIME

Time is another very important element in the whole process of diffusing any new idea, practice or the object. There are two characteristics of time in this process.
1) Stages in the decision process

1.Stages in the Decision.
2.Awareness.
3.Interest.
4.Evaluation.
5.Trialability.
6.Confirmation

2) Categories of Adopters.

1)Innovators.
2)Early Adaptors
3)Early Majority.
4)Late Majority.
5)Laggards.

STAGES IN DECISION PROCESS



The innovation decision process is the one through which an individual or an organization passes for the adoption or rejection of an innovation. It includes five stages.

Awareness.
It is the foremost stage in the decision process for the adoption or rejection of the innovation. It is the time when an individual or any other unit of adoption is exposed to an innovation for example the receiver come to know that a new idea, practice or object is in the market.

Interest.
The second stage in the decision process is that an interest is developed in the individual to know more about the innovation. He tries to understand the uses and functions of that particular inoovation. This inclination or desire to know about the innovation is called interest. For example when a tractor was introduced in Pakistan, the farmers listened that there is a machine which automatically ploughs the field and that they would not have to do much efforts for ploughing. It urged them to see and use that new machine so this desire or wish comes in the context of “Interest”.

Evaluation
In the evaluation stage, people see their past, present experiences & future situation and then decide whether to try it or not. They evaluate what advantages they would gain from its usage, is it in their control or not and how much more useful is it than the thing it is replacing.

Trialability
After complete evaluation of the new innovation, it is tried on small scale and is adopted on trial basis.

Confirmation
( Adoption or Rejection )– After passing through the stages of awareness, interest, evaluation and trialabilty, the decision about the innovation ( idea, practice, or object ) is confirmed for example whether to adopt or reject the innovation.
Categories of Adopters

Following are the five categories of Adopters of any idea, practice or object.

Innovators üThey are eager to adopt new ideas.
üThey are more cosmopolite and have substantial financial resources.
üThey play an important role in the process of diffusion of innovation and are gatekeepers of this process in social system.

Early Adopters 1:They have a high degree of opinion leadership.
2:The change agents as social missionaries seek them.
3:They are role models for others.
4:These are the people who decrease the uncertainty of the innovation.



Early Majority 1:They adopt just before the average members of the social system.
2:They are a link between the early adopters and the late majority of social system.
3:They don’t posses leadership position.
4:Their motto is “Neither too Early Nor too late”
5:Deliberation before adopting the innovation.

Late Majority 1:After the average members of the social system, they adopt the innovation.
2:They usually adopt as a result of persuasion.
3:The people of this category are skeptical about the innovation.
4:Hey adopt when the social norms and values favor the innovation.

Leggards 1:These people are the last to adopt any innovation in the social system.
2:We can call them the most local people.
3:Adopt when the innovation is superseded by another innovation
4:They are suspicious about the innovation and the change agent
5:The people with lack of financial resources are also included in the category of laggards.

 

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Development Communication & Social Change

Development Communication & Social Change

Any change in the structure of the social system is called social change

Steps in Social change:
Introduction of innovation
Diffusion
Consequences.

Introduction of innovation§In this step an innovation ( an idea, object or practice ) is created and developed


DIFFUSION§In this step that innovation is communicated and diffused among the members of the social system.

Consequences§After the diffusion of innovation the result is either adoption or rejection of innovation. As the change agencies get positive or negative responses from the target audiences, they decide weather to continue their program or give it a different dimension.

Categories of Social Change

imminent change 
When an innovation is created, developed, communicated and diffused by the member of social system within their own society or system without or little influence of the externals is called imminent change.

Contact Change 

When an innovation is created , developed and diffused in a social system by externals is called contact change. There are two kinds of contact change.

Selective

This kind of contact change the audience is free to adopt or reject the intended change, for example population control in Pakistan.

Directive

  This change is brought by pressure of some kind of authority, support or sponsorship for example population change in China  

Barriers in Social Change


There are two kind of barriers in process of social change.
Physical

In involves those barriers that can be seen and felt e.g. any pressure group, any technical fault etc.
Semantic

This kind of barrier cant be seen rather these are in the minds of the people e.g. if people are reluctant to send their girls to school because they fear the circumstances from other people of their community.

Requirements of Social Change




Work Force
It is one of the basic requirement for bringing social change in any community or society. Both the quantity and ability of the work force are important i.e. there should be no lack of people who are assigned different jobs during the planning and implementation of the project and secondly these people should be able to do their work effectively.

Capital
Capital is also prerequisite for the process of social change. Unless the change agency has enough capital to carry out the implementation of the project, it is impossible to bring any kind of change. Besides availability the proper utilization of capital is also very important.


Opinion Leader & Change Agent
It plays a significant role in the whole process of social change. They are the persons who actually come in contact with the people of the community where change is being sought. They are in position to mold the public opinion in favor of innovation.

Tools of Communication
The support of communication is indispensable for making the process of social change successful. This support can be give either through mass media or culture based means of communication. If the change agency has a skillful workforce and also there is handsome amount of capital but the communication strategy is poor, it will be very difficult to bring the change
Steps for Reducing ResistANCE


Following are the steps that may be taken in case of resistance from the target audience who are opposing to bring any specific change in the structure of function of their social system. 

•Giving Priority to Audience Concern
The change agency should give priority to those problems that the audience thinks are its real issue e.g. if the change agency wants to establish a school in any village but the people of that village first want to have a hospital or dispensary. 

•To Remove The Doubts of Audience about that Specific Change.
For example in any community when parents are not ready to send their children or specifically daughters to the school, they should be told about the importance of education. Similarly if someone thinks that Internet is just spreading obscenity in the society, he should be briefed the advantages of this facility and how grown ups can be saved from the wrong use.



•To Offer Special Incentives to the Volunteer & the Community as a Whole.
It will encourage them to support the cause of the change agency. The volunteers will work more efficiently and devotedly. Similarly it will make the members of that community feels that change is being brought for their betterment. 

•The Change should be Selective for the People.
The audience should be free to adopt or reject the intended change and it should not be brought by pressure of any kind.

Try to Improve Literacy Level.

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